WE ARE A PEACEFUL PEOPLE

Britain is in a state of perpetual war.As we remember one, we embark upon another.We arm ourselves.We arm our enemies.We misremember.

Amidst the rise of military presence in civilian life, from our sporting events to recruitment in our schools, we are constantly presented with the acceptable face of the British armed forces, yet always distracted from the visceral horrors of warfare.

Inspired by war poetry, veteran interviews, and the actions of radical resistors of militarism, We Are A Peaceful People seeks to understand how the rhetoric and imagery of battle defines what we remember and what we have been asked to forget.

As part of her Playwrights’ Studio Scotland Writers Project, Evans invites you to share in an early reading of this new work, which will delve into questions of patriotism, heroism and aggression, searching out the emotive spaces where these overlap. Perhaps in the chorus of dissenting voices we may yet find a hope for peace.